2016 Simplified Planner Review and Giveaway

The Simplified Planner by Emily Ley, was my first foray into the world of daily planners last year, and I became absolutely smitten with the company. I loved that everything is so bright, colorful, and cheerful.

This year, I couldn’t decide if I really needed a daily planner again, or wanted to try a weekly – so when the new 2016 Simplified Planners went on sale, I bought a daily Happy Stripe, and a 17-month weekly Gold Pineapple. Check out the review below!

2016 Daily Simplified Planner in Happy Stripe

This year, there were some great improvements to the planner starting with a standard smaller size! Last year’s planner was an inch taller, and an inch wider than this year’s and it makes a huge difference in portability. The wire-o binding has also been updated to a stronger sturdier wire and it makes it much easier to flip the cover and pages to the back. There were also a few updates to the pages and layout that you can see below.

The inside scoop: I am in love with the inside color cover — it matches my blog accent color! I am easily swayed by good design and details, and this one is spot on for me. :)

As you can see from the photo above, the inside front cover also has a pocket which is super handy for any loose notes or small papers. Some people use it to hold a small notebook for extra writing space. The monthly tabs are super cute and colorful!

The front section of the planner contains a note from Emily Ley in addition to some suggestions on simplifying, and using the planner.

There is also a year-at-a-glance calendar, a page for your bucket list, and a list of 2016 holidays and dates.

Every month has a full two-page spread calendar with a small side section for notes. These ended up being my most utilized pages in my daily planner last year.

The daily pages have been simplified for 2016 to contain only four section: Today // To-Do // Dinner // Notes

The ‘Today’ section has space for scheduling between 6am and 9pm. I am personally not up by 6am, and 9pm is still early for me, but I really like the clean design. Last year I just wrote out the time for my appointments anyway so the pages are easily adaptable to your own schedule.

All the pages contain a different quote at the top, and each day has hints of color! Every day of the week has it’s own color and is repeated throughout the whole planner.

Weekend days are a little different as Saturday and Sunday share one page and only have unscheduled Today and To-Do sections. They also have four pre-filled ‘to-dos’ every Sunday with the same tasks: meal prep // tidy up // write down tasks // enjoy what matters. I think there’s enough space to write down my own stuff so I think these are actually nice little reminders that I probably would have written down anyway (except for meal prep).

Overall, I really love this planner! It’s easily hand-held, there’s plenty of space to plan and write, and the little bits of color throughout really do make me happy. She was clearly onto something with the name. :)

2016 Weekly Simplified Planner in Gold Pineapple

The weekly planner was updated right along with the daily version, so it’s rocking a smaller size, better gold wire-o binding, and hints of color throughout the pages as well.

Same beautiful color on the inside with a pocket just like the Happy Stripe. The tabs on the weekly are slightly smaller since they had to fit 17 months into the same space as 12 for the daily — really that just means there’s more color!

The front section contains the same note from Emily, tips for simplifying, and tips for using your planner as the daily version, but because this planner spans two years (August 2015 to December 2016), there are both 2015 and 2016 year-at-a-glance calendars, and lists for both 2015 and 2016 holidays and dates. The only thing ‘missing’ is the page for your 2016 Bucket List, but I don’t think that’s going to be a deal-breaker for anyone.

The weekly planner gets the same full two-page monthly spread as the daily, which I really appreciate!

Each week covers two pages. The date/colors are the same as the daily version, but since you see them all at the same time, I’d have to say the weekly is actually more colorful than the daily.

Each day is laid out horizontally which I absolutely love! I do not do well with vertical weekly layouts and I really enjoy seeing so much blank space to work with. You’ll notice that there are no section titles or hour-by-hour scheduling. I do like that they kept the ‘check off’ bullet points in the ‘to-dos’ section though. There is also a small space to write down your meal plans for each day if you want.

Like the daily version, the weekend days are treated differently here too. Saturdays and Sundays each only have one section for writing, and Sunday still gets the four pre-filled ‘weekly prep’ tasks.

Results: This is one of the nicest weekly layouts I’ve seen, and that’s why I wanted to keep it as soon as I opened it! If you’re like me and have a pretty set schedule that doesn’t change much from day to day, this weekly version could be a perfect fit for you too.

or are you drooling over the Happy Stripe daily version?

Lucky for you, I’ve teamed up with a few other bloggers and we’re giving away a 2016 Daily Simplified Planner in Happy Stripe! See below for details!

Entering is super easy, just use the rafflecopter below. The giveaway will be open until Friday, December 18th, 2015 at 11:59 PM EST.

**One winner will be randomly selected and notified by email on Monday, December 21st, 2015. All entries will be verified, meaning if you do not complete the tasks, you will be disqualified. Due to shipping expenses, thisgiveaway is only open to US residents (void where prohibited). You must be 18 or older to enter. The prize contains one Simplified Planner Daily Edition, and various other planner supplies including pens and washi tape. This giveaway is in no way sponsored or endorsed by Emily Ley’s shop.

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13 Comments

I don’t know if I can go back to a weekly planner after using a daily. I’m also on the fence about using another spiral bound planner because I like the idea of being able to add pages (A5 style) but these are SO pretty. It’s very tempting!

I never really paid attention to the ring/disc-bound planners until recently, but there are some people on Instagram making it look really tempting to try one! I’ve watched a few videos on people making their own pages and I’m super impressed with what people do with their planners!

Hi Dana, thanks for stopping by! I’ve only tried the Day Designer (full size) and Purposeful Planner – both of which are HUGE and stay on the desk. I can’t imagine lugging those around. The weekly Simplified planner is actually pretty thin and light so that’s the one I carry in my (large) purse. :)

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